Alternate Title

Category

Edge of Darkness (1988)

Synopsis
by Robert Firsching

Secrets, betrayals, and violent retribution characterize this gripping Hong Kong police thriller starring Chin Siu-ho as Kay, a dedicated supercop who has been in "deep cover" for four years infiltrating an underworld gang. Only his superior officer, Wong (Alex Man), knows Kay's real identity, and is hard-pressed to clear him when the agent has to execute someone on his triad boss' orders and is arrested for the crime. Kay is finally cleared, but the stress from the incident leads him to reveal his undercover status to both his girlfriend and another police officer. Even more problems befall Kay when, just as he is about to finally be done with the stressful assignment, Wong sells him out to the gang. It appears that Wong is a compulsive gambler and revealed Kay's identity in order to make a million dollars to pay off his debts. The desperate Wong then sells out everyone else in order to eliminate any potential witnesses by setting up a raid on a drug deal which the triad is set to undertake with some Japanese yakuza gangsters. Stressing characterization more than the frenzied gunplay typical of Asian crime-dramas, the film co-stars Idy Chan along with genre veterans Lo Lieh, William Ho, and director Fung Hark-on.